Maybe I am naive, dumb or just misread people. I don't think so but it seems that with the Flaf I have inadvertently bothered some.

When I first found VFRD I was about as enthused as anyone could be. I was a member here before I found my Y2K VFR. I shared the entire experience with all who were here. Anyone will tell you that my enthusiasm for the bike and this group was nothing short of unbridled.

When I finally found out about the Flaf I thought it was the coolest idea since the VFR. I thought, "Wow! What uber creative genius came up with this idea, misspelling and all?" Being someone who has a lot of experience organizing runs I simply couldn't wait to for the Flaf to get close enough for me to use it as the reason for my first organized run. When given the chance to pick it up I rode 180 miles, one way on a Sunday to do so. (My wife thought I was a kook but I was so enthused by all of this that I didn't even give two thoughts to it.)

Prior to actually getting the Flaf I wondered why there weren't more than one. I wondered this because folks were always bringing up how there was so little room left on it and because it seemed that the world of VFRdom is large enough to dictate more than one Flaf. I learned that multiple Flafs had been discussed before and decided against. Ok, fine. No problem.

Then, when I got the Flaf I saw what people meant about the crowding of it. And the solution was to sign the inside. To me, signing the inside just didn't feel right. Then, I had an idea. Why not add some real estate to it so that more folks can have ample room to sign it? In doing so, we could get a lot more milage out of it. And so, I did.

Since the summer I have picked up comments, some subtle and others not so subtle, that the change wasn't appreciated. I've read, "Don't let it go back to New England" and "Does it still have the cape attached :unsure: ?" I don't understand it.

When I did what I did I thought that I was acting in the spirit of VFRd and the Flafl. Others had modified the Flaf in the past with patches. I just felt that more real esate for signatures was needed so I tweaked it with a cape. I never imagined that I would be breaking some unwritten rule about it. I was just trying to add to the fun. When we had our two Flaf runs here in New England the gang seemed to get a real kick out of the modifications. We had a blast with it. It was just us, our VFRs, the Flaf and good times (oh, and a very healthy dose of silliness.)

VFR Silliness

If what I did was wrong, I'm sorry. I had no idea that it would be at the time. Feel free to take the cape off if it hasn't already been done. But please, be respectful enough to the people who have signed the cape to let them know that they now need to resign the Flaf. I had no intent to desecrate the Flaf or insult anyone else. I was simply trying to add to the fun in a new and creative way. I never thought it would result in any of these thoughts and feelings. I guess I wasn't sensitive enough to the history of the VFRd and the Flaf to realize that I, as a relative newcomer, probably was crossing a line to modify the Flaf as I did.

Since day one I have enjoyed VFRd immensely. I think I became a contributing member within a week of opening my account. I've created some great relationships with people here and I have a lot of respect for this group. My enhthusiasm remains very high to this day as is evidenced by the NE runs that are already planned. Again, if my adding to the Flaf was a no-no I'm sorry. Maybe I was overly enthusiastic and took it to a level that surprised some. I don't know what else to say. My hope is that those of you who were upset by this action will value an overly enthusiastic member enough to overlook a moment of oversight or naivety.

I felt it would be wise to break this out in the open. I'm hopeful that with this statment people will understand better what the motives were and that I was, in no way, trying to upset the apple cart or insult anyone.

Thanks for reading.

Best,

Dan